How do you go about giving people feedback?
As an owner or manager, part of your job is to build a team and to grow the business and the people in it. And one of the ways you do that is by giving people feedback on their performance.
Inevitably the feedback will be a mixture of things that they are doing well, and things that they could do better.
But although most people like getting and giving positive feedback, the reality is that probably they don’t ‘give or get’ nearly enough of it!
The other point is that most managers don’t like giving those on their team ‘negative feedback’, but let’s call it ‘constructive criticism’ because that’s what it should be.
Part of the manager's role is to let those on their team know what they need to change for the purpose of making them better at what they do, and therefore ultimately becoming more successful in the process.
The problem is that many managers are ill-equipped or afraid to give those on their team constructive criticism for fear of confrontation and conflict. The result is that the problems usually just get worse.
Set it up at the beginning of the relationship!
What I mean by that is that you should tell them as soon as they start, before there is a problem, that you will touch base with them once a week to let them know how they are going.
The result is, that now they know you will be giving them feedback on a weekly basis, so they are less likely to be feeling attacked and get all defensive, and as the manager, you are less likely to be anxious and confrontational.
The key is to always be telling people something good, anything that they are doing well and then to also mention any areas that need improvement. Aim to be telling them something positive at least twice as much as areas that they need to improve in.
Why do I call it ‘Friday feedback’? Simply because I used to do it every Friday!
Thank you for watching…
Have a great week!